Roxanne's Background

Roxanne Valies was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1971. Her parents, Sonny and Irma, always had the intention to return to their country of birth, therefore Dutch was the only language spoken in the home. Her mother, both an educator and registered nurse, home schooled Roxanne and her siblings, so that by age four and five when they moved to Suriname (South America) with native fluency, they had a head start in reading and writing in Dutch. Despite being 50 years old, and having a comfortable middle class life style that could last through retirement, her father decided to move the family back to the United States and started over.

Instead of thinking about what it would mean to leave behind a lucrative job as the Chief Information Officer of a large company, her father decided to leave behind a country under military rule where he feared his children would not be free to achieve prosperity and success through hard work. And as Americans he felt, they did not need to settle for that.

The family moved to Lauderhill, Florida in 1987. Roxanne witnessed her father never to regain his footing in the technology industry at the level he left behind. She saw her mother, so determined to provide for her family, work two jobs and as a nurse ignored a mass growing on her side. At the age of 19, Roxanne lost her mother to cancer, and saw her sister take over and become the matriarch of the family. It is in this environment that Roxanne grew up recognizing that she was a product of hard work and sacrifice.

In addition to her family’s influence, Roxanne is a product of the community she has called home for the past 28 years. She has lived in both Lauderhill and Sunrise, she graduated from Boyd Anderson High School in Lauderdale Lakes, and she has been a parishioner at Plantation United Methodist Church throughout. From rarely speaking during her first year in high school, because she had yet to master English as a second language, she went on to becoming a proud Gator, obtaining a Bachelor’s (1994) and a Master’s (1997) degree in Business and Technology from the University of Florida. In 2009, she also obtained a Master’s degree (2009) from FIU in Human Resources Management.

At her core are the principles that, “there is no substitute for hard work” and “to whom much is given, much is required.” Therefore, her work in the community never just scratches the service; it is always a deep dive. The fact that she speaks Dutch, can converse in Spanish, and has lived in South America allowed her to be of service at a national level. Her dedication and hard work in service at the Lauderhill Regional Chamber of Commerce, and in support of the State Representative of former District 94 and current District 95 is such that there are those in the community who believe that she works for the Chamber or is a paid aide to State Representative Hazelle Rogers.

In reality, for about 20 years, Roxanne has been makes a living in highly responsible positions as a Systems Engineer with two large and well respected Florida companies; first Florida Power & Light and currently Baptist Health of South Florida.

Roxanne is single without children. She is very family oriented and actively involved in the life of her nieces and nephew.